So as is typical to the last few years for me, November has essentially come and gone in a whirlwind. I am sorry that I've been neglecting all my websites, but I assure you that I have been keeping busy with only the most writerly of activities. I expect to be back here at least once a week again in the near future, hopefully more! But in the meantime, I wanted to share some exciting news with you. I am one of the newly appointed Assistant Managing Editors at Chicago Quarterly Review along with the wonderfully talented Barbara Rykaczewski. CQR has undergone a few changes this year and now accepts electronic submissions. It's a great literary journal and if you write literary short stories, I recommend you check us out and see if we might be a good fit for your work. You can also find CQR on Facebook, so stop by and like us. I am really looking forward to the adventures in editing ahead of me. It promises to be a fun and learning experience!

So how are all of you doing? Any exciting news to share? Hope you've all be doing some Happy Writing!

October was a busy month for me. I gained several new private tutoring clients, which I am extremely excited about. Such a great group of kids! My mom came in for a whirlwind visit, and I signed up for an online flash fiction workshop taught by the amazing Meg Pokrass who truly is an expert in the art of less is more when it comes to writing.

It was this last development that led me to my answer to the October question I posed a few weeks ago. Will I or won't I do Nanowrimo this year? And the answer is . . . no, I will not be writing a novel this month, but yes, I will set an insane writing goal for myself to reach in 30 days.

And what will this insane writing goal be? Well, signing up for Meg's class has reminded me just how much I love writing flash fiction. I've also been insanely productive and have been able to churn out as many as three a day the last couple of weeks. Many of these have been via prompts posted by Meg, but a few have just come out of nowhere. I am finding this to be extremely good for me right now while I struggle to fit writing in to an ever changing schedule. So, I have decided that I am going to see just how many flash fictions I can write in November. My absolute minimum is 60 -- that's two per day, but secretly, I am really aiming for 90. If I land somewhere in between, I will be happy. Just for funsies, I will also keep track of my word count, but this year it is going to be about the number of complete pieces, not the number of words.

So for those of you who are embarking on a November goal yourself starting today, best of luck and happy writing!

Author

My name is Diane D. Gillette. My two passions are writing and teaching. If you are a writer, I hope you will find my blog useful and/or entertaining. If you are looking for a private tutor or assistance with your writing in the Chicago area, please feel free to stop by the My Services tab to find out more about my qualifications and what I can do for you. Happy Writing!